Michael Bublé Launches Campaign to Identify Vancouver Hockey Rioters

Many musicians have already expressed their outrage at the Vancouver hockey riots that took place last week, after the city's Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins. Pop crooner Michael Bublé has taken things one step further: he is funding a campaign to catch the perpetrators.

Why is Bublé so interested in catching the rioters? As he told the Globe and Mail, several of his family members were directly affected by the violence. His mother, grandmother, niece and nephew were inside of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre when the ruckus began. This is located just blocks away from Rogers Arena, where the Canucks play, and the first car was flipped right next door.

"They were traumatized," Bublé said. "They weren't allowed to go into the lobby because they were worried people were going to break the windows."

Now, the singer is seeking vengeance by launching a newspaper ad campaign that asks anyone with photographic evidence of rioters to step forward. "Just like everybody else, I was embarrassed, ashamed and angry, and the anger hasn't gone away," he explained. "We have to continue to circulate the faces and names of those guilty parties. Let's get them lots of publicity so that the police can make some arrests."

He also reached out to the Vancouver chief of police, offering his support and even money to help with the campaign to catch the rioters. "The chief was very appreciative," Bublé's manager added. "He said he was getting tremendous cooperation from the public. And the cops are buoyed up by the outpouring of support from the public."

Many ordinary Vancouverites have started similar campaigns to Bublé's. Blogs like Vancouver 2011 Riot Criminal List are dedicated to publishing photographs and videos to identify rioters and turn them over to the police.